A Long Walk Down Memory Lane
by dkb817
Summary: Memories from Eli's past become actions of the present.   Eli/OC   **transfered from my other account, sunnylikesunshine90**
1. Ch 1: Eli's Intro

**Title: **A Lonely Walk Down Memory Lane  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Eli reminisces on a past love….  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Boardwalk Empire. I do not own the song, The City, by Joe Purdy.  
><strong>AN: **I took quite a few liberties with this story. Please review and let me know what you think – this may become a multi-chapter story.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I still recognize her after all these years and she still looks the same<br>**__**Ah, she still looks the same**_

The sound of the children's voices echoed throughout the house. One little boy yelled for the others to watch him, followed by a sound that Eli imagined was somewhat similar to a stampede. The home was rarely quiet, although with eight children, that was to be expected.

Eli muttered something to June about needing a moment, before escaping out the backdoor. He loved his children, and was willing to do anything for them, but a long day of dealing with Nucky often left him exhausted and even a bit short-tempered. Taking a seat on the top step, he allowed his gaze to drift towards the stars and his mind to wander even further – to a time when everything was much simpler.

_**Oh, and we end up in Brooklyn  
><strong>__**It was rainin' so hard.**_

Eli remembered the first woman he had ever fallen hard for. Her name was Anne, and she was incredible.

He had just taken a job as a police officer with Atlantic City patrol, all of nineteen years old. He was patrolling the boardwalk when he stumbled upon a couple engaged in a very loud argument. Well, it was more the man yelling at Anne, who barely looked a day over eighteen herself. When the man raised his hand and struck her, Eli saw red. It may have been commonplace for men to use violence to keep women 'in line', but he could never stomach it.

Through discussion, Eli found that the man was just one of many suitors that Anne's parents had lined up for her. They were a poor Irish family, who thought that by sending Anne out, they were giving her a better life.

_**And when the girl's kissing my face, my face  
><strong>__**She was just kissing my face**_

Eli fell hard for the young lady. _What was there not to love? _He mused to himself. _She was beautiful, funny – could've, would've been my wife one day._

The two were very much in love, but at the time, Eli didn't have any money to start a life with Anne. He didn't feel that marriage would be right, until he could support her. Her catholic upbringing shunned the idea of sex before matrimony – and as a result, Anne swore they had to abstain until marriage.

Eli was a young man in his prime, and was growing increasingly frustrated with Anne's unwillingness to budge on her morals. Nucky had just been elected treasurer of Atlantic City, and invited his youngest brother to the election party. The alcohol was flowing freely – right down Eli's throat. One of the women at the party was somewhat sympathetic to his troubles, and with the alcohol clouding his thoughts, he gave in.

_**J**__**ust when I was sick and lonely,  
><strong>__**There was a shaking on the ground.**_

The mistake was realized the next morning, but Eli knew that the truth would devastate Anne. She could never find out. As it turned out, fate had other plans.

Just a few months later, the woman, whose name was June, showed up on Elias' doorstep – clearly pregnant.

Anne was horrified, had chastised Eli for betraying her and betraying the lord, and left. He wanted to go after her, to apologize over and over again, if need be. The honorable part of him, however, prevented that. He had gotten the woman pregnant, and had to face the music. He and June were married a short time later.

The screaming of his children brings Eli back to reality, the stampede heading up the staircase, presumably to get ready for bed. It had been ten years, and seven more children, since he had seen Anne, but he had never once stopped thinking about her.

Where was she? What was she doing? Was she married with children? Was she happy?

As he headed inside to tuck his children into their beds, Eli wondered one last time if Anne still thought of him.

_**She was dancing on the midway,  
><strong>__**Just kissing my face.  
><strong>__**Dancing on the midway,  
><strong>__**Just waving goodbye**__. _


	2. Ch 2: Anne's Intro

**Title: **A Lonely Walk Down Memory Lane  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Eli reminisces on a past love….  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Boardwalk Empire. I do not own the song, The City, by Joe Purdy.  
><strong>AN: **I took quite a few liberties with this story. Please review and let me know what you think  
><strong>AN: The idea wouldn't leave me alone, and as such, this will be a multi-chapter fic. This chapter is Anne's side of things. I suppose you could skip it, but I'd prefer you didn't, lol**

* * *

><p>"But, mama…"<br>"No buts, young man. We're going home where you can explain to your father how you've broken yet another toy on the boardwalk."

Anne looked up from her sketches, unable to suppress a grin at the scene in front of her. A mother and her young son had been sitting a few feet away, the young boy playing with a small truck. In a fit of anger over something in his imaginary world, the boy had thrown his truck, breaking into a few smaller pieces. The pencil in Anne's hand danced along the paper, trying to save that moment for the rest of time, even if just on paper.

_How lucky children are, _she thought to herself. _They are so carefree, so untouched by the worries of the world. _Her thoughts wandered, as she idly played with the ring on her left hand. Much like children, she had been oblivious to the issues of the world, right up until they appeared on her doorstep.

_**Sometimes it lasts in love,  
><strong>__**But sometimes it hurts instead**_

About a year after she separated from Elias, she had met and married a man named James Murphy, a fellow Irish immigrant whose family had arrived on the same boat as her parents. When he heard of the war, James had been one of the first in line to volunteer his services.

Unfortunately, like many other young men she knew or had grown up with, her husband lost his life in this battle. He had been wounded and lived for just a few days afterward, long enough to write Anne one last letter.

He had wanted her to move on, to be happy. The only other person that had ever made her as happy was Eli Thompson and their time had been over for some time.

_**You know how time flies  
><strong>__**Only yesterday was the time of our lives**_

Anne had been deeply in love with Eli. He was an honorable man; one she knew would always love and protect her, and one day, their children. The day the other woman showed up on their doorstep was the worst day of her entire life. The very world she thought she was creating for herself was shattered, lying at her feet.

She was hurt, but Anne knew Eli would do the responsible thing. As angry as she was, she respected him for doing the right thing by June.

_**I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited  
><strong>__**But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.**_

After James' death, Anne had sold their small home and moved back to Atlantic City, where she could have a fresh start. She tried to keep as busy as she could; taking care of her mother prior to her death took up a great deal of time.

It was a bit of a shock to her system when, upon arriving in Atlantic City, she discovered that Deputy Elias Thompson was now Sheriff Eli Thompson. Rumors had begun to swirl that Nucky was involved in rather unsavory things, and each time, Anne would send up a little prayer that somehow, Eli had avoided it and stayed on the straight and narrow.

On occasion, while sketching down at the boardwalk, she'd see a child run by and would wonder _'Maybe that's one of his children. He does look an awful lot like Eli.' _She would then mentally scold herself with the reminder that even if it was one of his children, it's not like it would make a difference.

The year she and Eli had spent together had been purely magical, and while she craved to be a part of that light once again, Anne knew their time was over. He was a family man now, like she always knew he would be – but the wife in this scenario just wasn't her.

And she needed to accept that.

_**Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.  
><strong>__**I wish nothing but the best for you, too.  
><strong>__**Don't forget me, I beg.  
><strong>__**I remember you said,  
><strong>_"_**Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead,  
><strong>__**Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead."**_


End file.
